Ball mill



Aug. 12, 1930. A. A. WISE El AL 1,772,737

am IILL Filed lay 28, 1928 Patented Aug. 12, 1930 AUSTICE A. WISE Annienonen earns, OI OAKLAND, .oALIFoRmA BALL Application filed May 28,

This invention relates to a grinding and amalgamating mill. I

More specifically the invention relates to a mill so construct'ed'as to be readily adaptable to the grinding of diverse materials of various forms and sizes, and which may be angularly adjusted in accordance with the requirements of materials of differing characteristics.

Various forms of mills including the ball t e have lon been in v0 uefor the rind-" g g g abra ing or destructive material thereto.-

ing of different materials in which thematerial is fed into a revolving drum disposed to a hor1-, J

horizontally or at various'angles zontal in which the material is subjected to a grinding action Within the: drum.

The importance of having the revolving drum inclined to a horizontal has'long been recognized but the revolving r .In the grinding ofdifferent materlals it is in such prior constructions desirable that'the' drum be given different inclinations according to the characteristics of the'material it is desired to grind.

A primary object oftheinvention is to provide a ball mill, for grinding ores or for any other purpose, that is bodily adjustable so that its axis of rotation may assume various angles with respect to a horizontal line.

further object of the invention is to provide a ball mill that issupported-at'three points whereby the angular adjustment of the mill may be effected by' adjusting the relative position of two of said points, so that a stable support is provided for the mill in all positions of it adjustment; j

A further objectof the present invention is to provide a grinding mill comprising a revolving drum disposed at an inclination and adapted to be readily shifted to other in clinations without interfering with the drive connections. 1 g g j A further object of the invention is to provide a grinding mill adapted to beexpeditiously adjusted for the grinding Ofdifferent materials. I I I r A further object of the present invention is to provide a grinding mill adapted to-be readily adjusted for increasing orwdecreasdrum had'a fixed inclination.

MILL

1928. Serial ar 281,087.

ing the capacity thereof in accordance with the materialdesired to be handled.

is "to provide a ball grindingmill composed of simple detachable parts whereby any broken, or worn parts may be readily replaced at minimum expense.

A further object'of the present invention is to provide a thus reventing the entrance of dirt or any 'In the treatment'of ores bearing precious metals such as gold, it has been the practice to grind the, ore by various forms of mills and thereafter" subject the ground ore to an amalgamating process in order to recover the gold, etc. thus involving separate steps an operations in suchtreatment.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a combined grinding and amalgamating mill whereby ores hearing precious metals may be ground and the values recovered in a single operation. Q

With the foregoing objects in view aswell as others that may appear from the follow ing detailed disclosure, reference will be had to=-the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, and in whichz Figure 1 is a part longitudinal section and part side'elevation of a preferred embodiment of our invention;

Figure 2 is anend elevation as viewed from the plane of'line 2-2 in Figure 1 with half the grate removedfand 5 igure 3 is a similar view'as viewed the plane-of line 3-3 in' Figure 1.

eferring to 'charactersin which like characters designate like parts, 11 designatesa foundation preferably of concrete and which, as clearly shown in Figure 1, is provided with parallel inclined supporting portions 12 and 18.

from

'Afurther object of the present invention I grinding mill which the bearings and driving mechanism are housed,

the drawings by reference Disposed on supporting portion 12 is a means of bolts 17 extending through slots therein are two pairs of dust-proof and'grease tight ball bearings 18 and 19 each of which pairs revolvably supports a trunnion 21 to which is secured a roller 22. Revolvably supported on rollers 22 is a cylindrical casing 23 provided with a track 24 in bearing enga ement with rollers 22.

asing 23 is provided with a flanged end plate 25 which carries a hub member 26 to which is securedone end of drive shaft 27.

Supported on supporting portion 13 of foundation 11, is a plate 28 provided with an outwardly extending limiting flange 29.

Supported onplate 28 with one edge thereof in limiting engagement with flange 29 is a plate 31 provided with aspherical seat 32 in which movably rests the spherical shell 33 of the main com ination thrust ball bearing 34 in which shaft 27 is journalled.

, Fixed on the outer end of shaft 27 is the hub 35 of a worm gear 36 which is in mesh with a worm 37 fixed to a shaft 38 extending at right angles to shaft 27, shaft 38 on opposite ends of worm 37 is journalled in combiextending. secur ng nation thrust ballbearings 39 which are supported by plates 41 movable within arcuate slots 42 in guide castings 43 secured together and to foundation 11 by means of transversely bolts 44. 1

Supported by bearings 39 and surrounding worm gear 36 and worm 37 is a metallic casing 45 provided with an upper removable section 46 andthrough a 36 extends asshown in Figure 1.

to be ground.

Casing 23 is welded on a horizontal seam and hasone end thereof slipped within the flange of end plate 25 whereuponsaid flange is welded to casing 23.

Disposed within the shell 23 in engagement with end plate 25 is a head liner 47 which may be formed in a single piece or several segments and which is secured in position by means of the adjacent section of a plurality of" successive circular liners 48 as well as being secured to shaft 27.

Circular liners 48 are placed in casing 23 in succession with adjacent edges in engagement as shown in Figure 1, which jointly provide a continuous liner for casing 23.

. Disposed within casing 23 and in engagement with the outerliner section 48 is an annular grate 49 which holds liners 48 all in position" within casing 23. Grate 49 may be made in one or more sections and formed with openings 51 of a size depending upon the product to be ground, and the height of the grateis also dependent upon the product -The grate is so formed that the portion which abuts adjacent linerrsem tion 48 is of the same thickness as clearly shown invFigurewl, so that no'shoulder is formed, adjacent the grate.

Disposedinengagement with grate 49 is an annularscreen 52. of a mesh depending or trap 54. Telescoped within .well

which hub 35 of gear to be ground. As clearly shown in Figure 1, grate 49 is provided with extensions 53 in order that screen 52 will be out of contact with the operative portion of grate 49 inorder to more efficiently perform its screening operation. 7

As indicated in Figure 1, casing 23 at the forward or open end thereof is turned outwardly, extending for a short distance and then turned inwardly to provide a channel the open end of casing 23 is a cylindrical amalgamating plate 55 one end of which engages screen 52 to hold the same in osition against grate 49 and the other end 0 which is provided with a flange 56 extending within trap 54.

Welded to casing 23 adjacent trap 54 is a cast steel angle ring 57 through which and flange 56 bolts are extended to hold liner sections, grate, screen and amalgamating plate all in operative position.

A feed chute 58 is provided which is preferably in the form of three quarters of a. circle in cross section as indicated in Figure 2 and which enters the open end of casing 23 highenough to clear grate 49 and extends back within the casing.

The interior of casing 23 with liners 47 and 48 in position is filled with balls 59 to a level indicated by line 61 and the casing 23 with associated parts is set into rotation by suitable power transmitted to pulley 62 secured to shaft 38.

V Incthe operation of the construction disclosed, the ore or other material to be treated is fed through chute 58 into casing 23 well towardthe rear end thereof which casing is constantly and uniformly revolved through any source of power transmitted to pulley 62 and through shaft 38, worm 37, gear 36, and shaft 27 which is fixed to casing 23.

The ore is discharged from chute 58 into contact with balls 59 which due to rotation of casing 23 are in constant motion and, accordingly, theore is subjected to a crushing and grinding action tween balls 59 and liners 47 and 48. The ore is fed with a stream of water and as the ore becomes ground or pulverized the finer material will work forward and pass through grate 49 and screen. 52, on to amalgamating plate 55 and be over the edge thereof into trap 54 and thence be discharged out of the mouth or open en of mill or casing 23.

The amalgamating plate 55 being directly in front of screen 52, the ground ore assing through grate 49 and screen 52 moves irectl on to the amalgamating surface. The ama upon the material gamating plate isconstantly rotating in unison with casing 23 and grate 49 and screen 52' which keeps the milled product agitated and by the rotary motion of the amalgamatingplate same will continually present a new surface; and due to the up-grade of milled product the tendency is to retard the waste of discharged gold or amalgamation by wash of the milled product. 7

In view of theconstant rotation of the amalgamating plate while the water is flowing from the mill through screen carrying the milled product with it as the casing rotates, causes the gold to readily cling to the amalgam surface.

After the milled ore has been retained on the plate long enough to beturned over many times it moves off and dropsinto trap 54.

The amalgam trap 54 will collect quick silver, gold and other losses which leaves plate 55 if any and the outer lip of trap 54 may byraiseda little higher than the level of amalgamating plate 55 depending upon the ore and the operators judgment as there should be but very little of the values pass over the outer lip of trap 54. Y

The amalgamating plate 55 is preferably composed of a silvered copper plate or plates and as the ground material passes thereover and free gold contained therein will be attracted by the amalgamating plate as just stated. Said plate, after a certain period of operation, is removed and the amalgam distilleld in well known manner to recover the golc.

If it is desired to change the pitch or incline of casing 23. for the most effective treatment of various materials, the operator loos-- ens bolts 17 and moves bearings 18 and 19 along plate 16 toward or away from each other depending upon whether a greater or less pitch is desired and as bearings 18 and 19 are moved, rollers 22 are moved therewith and consequently casing 23, the track 24 of which rides on rollers 22, is correspondingly changed in pitch or inclination.

As the pitch of casing 23 is altered, shaft 27 moves therewith remaining at all times in alinement with the longitudinal axis of casing 23, such movement of shaft 27 being permitted through the co-operating spherical seat 32 and spherical bearing shell 33, gear 36 and worm 37 remaining in operative engagement during any pitch alternations of casing 23 and shaft 27 ,due to bearings 39 for shaft 38 being carried by plates 41 movable in an arc whose center corresponds with that of the spherical engaging surfaces 32 and 33, it being only necessary in such adjustments to tighten or loosen the belt co-operating with pulley 62.

It will be seen that the mill comprising casing 23 and shaft 27 has a three point suspension which insures self alinement thus avoiding any-dangerof strain in any .ofthe 7 operating parts and that bearing 34sustains alarge portion oftheweight of the mill as well as the end thrust and further serves as a'fulcrum in the pitch adjustments of the mill.

It is to be further noted that gear 36 and worm 37 are self contained and housed against destructive matter and due to their arcuately movable connection withfoundadisturbing gear 36 by the simple operation of removing one of the end plates 41; and asthe liner for casing 23 is formed of a plurality of sections any one thereof maybe removedand replacedv without the necessity of providing a complete new liner.

While the structure is disclosed for the grinding 'of ores and collecting metals such as gold therefrom by the process of amalgamation, the mill is well adapted for grind.- ing any product either wet or dry. When used as a dry grinder, for products such as paints and other earthen substances, the grate 49 and screen 52 -may be moved for,-.

ward as amalgamating plate 55 will notbe required and furthermore such forward movement of grate 49 and screen 52 will provide greater capacity of casing 23. Also where soft, earthen products are tobe milled the casing 23 may be set on most any pitch or incline which would have a tendency 'to' increase or decrease thecapacity as the opernot affect the'mechan'ical drive as same is a flexible threepoint suspension and the parts arepositively in alinement at all times.

For grinding a material, the product 'of whichis; a light flower dust or a gas, it would be necessary to close the mouth or open end of casing 23' in which. event the material would be. fed through the center of casing 23 by. means" of a suitable worm or scoop feed and a discharge opening would be provided for the ground product.

While we have disclosed but a single embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that we are not limited to the details thereof but may make such changes or alterations as fairly fall within the scope of the sub-joined claims. j

Accordingly, what we claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is 1. A grinding mill comprising a base; rollers supported on said base; a rotatable casing-supported on said rollers a drive shaft 'ator. may choose, and the change in pitch will carried by said casing; a movable connece spherical ball and thrust bearing carried by said shaft.

3. The construction defined in claim 1 in which said last means comprises bearings for said rollers and means for adjusting said bearin s relative to each other.

' 4. T e constructure defined in claim 1 in which said driving means comprises a worm gear secured to said shaft; a Worm meshing with said gear; said Worm and worm gear being adjustable as a unit.

5. A grinding mill comprising a foundation; substantially parallel inclined seats on 7 said foundation; adjustable rollers supported on one of said seats; a spherical socket on the other of said seats; a cylindrical casin rotatably supported on said rollers; a drive shaft supported by said casing; a ball and thrust bearing for said drive shaft; said bearing provided with a spherical surface for o erative engagement with said socket; and riving means co-operating with said shaft.

6. In the construction defined in claim 5, a slotted plate carried by said one of said seats; bearings supported on said plate; shafts rotatably supported in said bearings, said rollers bein secured upon said shafts; and means for a justing said bearings relative to said plate. A

7. The construction defined in claim 5 in which saiddriving means are movably supported by said foundation.

8. A grinding mill comprising a foundation; a cylindrical inclined rotatable casin supported by saidfoundation .a drive sha carried by said casing; a ball and socket joint between said shaft and said foundation; a worm gear fixed to said shaft a worm meshing With said gear; a casing surrounding said gear and said worm; means for altering the inclination of said casing; and means whereb said casing surrounding said gear and sai worm moves commensurate with any such change in inclination.

In testimonv whereof we afiix our signatures. AUSTIGE A. WISE.

GEORGE GATES; 

